Vengeance & Homicide
by Chris Heigan - Caith Bruce
Summary: A new hero emerges from the night, but appears more like a villain when all his rescues end up appearing more like murder. And while the true villain lurks in the shadows; Batman and his allies race to solve the case of the Katana Killings.
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue:**

This is my city. It became mine the day my parents were mercilessly gunned down in front of my eight year old eyes. I was born in this city and it is here that I was forced to grow up before my time. No one really understands the reason why I do what I do and sometimes that reason becomes a little blurred even for me. But, then again I don't have to explain my actions to anyone. The simple fact is that, I do what I do because, well, no one else can.

Some years ago, an earthquake, ravaged Gotham. At a massive 7.6, on the Richter scale, it was the biggest to ever hit the city. At that time I thought, that was the worst that could happen to my city, but I was wrong. For long years the city lay in ruins after the earthquake and even now many areas still have not been rebuilt. Progress is slow, but steadily the city, my city is becoming the Gotham City it had been before the 'quake destroyed her. Since then I've faced many dangers and obstacles, but nothing could have prepared me for what was to come.

Many of Gotham's citizens have temporarily relocated to other cities like New York and Blüdhaven and others went west to Keystone City and even as far as Los Angeles, though as time passed those that left chose to remain in their perspective new home towns, while others faithfully returned to their beloved Gotham. In no way do I blame those that have chosen to make a new home for themselves in other cities; it is after all their choice to with their lives as they please. I am glad however, that many Gothamites have returned and that many new individuals have decided to come here to make a fresh new start.

Then, as the turn of the century approached with the treat of the Y2K virus, it came and went without any incident here in Gotham and everyone continued on with their lives as normal. But the peace and relative tranquility was short lived as a new villain emerged, someone from my past, someone that was almost like a brother to me as we trained together in the Tibetan mountains.

As the year 2001 drew to a close and Gotham experienced its coldest winter in over a century, a killing spree took place that gripped the city with fear and not only did it rival the sprees of the Calenderman and Holiday, but surpassed them in brutality and ruthlessness. Nothing I've ever dealt with compares to this case. It still troubles me that so many had perished and that I could not have stopped those murders from taking place. This wave of murders sent chills thought the people in this city and in time became known as the 'Gotham Homicides,' all over the country. However, right here in Gotham, it was dubbed the 'Katana Massacres.'

- _**Bruce Wayne**_


	2. Chapter 2

**20 December 2001.**

As darkness crawls upon the big city, the eerie sounds of footsteps break the silence in the dark and barren alley where a young woman hastily walks to get home.

The last rays of sunlight peeping over the rooftops of the newly built buildings are the only evidence left of the day that is past and all of its secrets. It has not snowed in days and the sun has been shining just warmly enough to melt some of the snow. The streets have all quieted down and most of the people, that work decent hours, have all gone home. Unfortunately, those which do not have the luxury of being home for the holidays, have to watch as the people outside head to the warmth of their homes.

The young woman, quickening her pace, still hears the footsteps coming closer. She spins around and the site that greets her is one of emptiness. She decides to carry on walking, but faster now, with a sense of urgency and impending dread. Not long after she began walking again, the footsteps echoed all through the alley once more. Almost running now, the footsteps coming closer, she finally gives up all hope of escaping and spins around in desperation. Before she can scream or even call for help, she's greeted with a violent punch in the face, the kind of punch one sees in a boxing match.

The young woman's attacker turned out to be her ex boyfriend, Steven. He'd been following her around for more than a week. He was jealous of the fact that she'd met someone else so soon after they'd broken up. Looking at her now through hazy eyes, he helps her up only to beat her back down again.

Lying on the snow-covered ground, crying, she asks through her tears, "W why Steven? Why?"

"WHY!" he shouts. Throwing his hands in the air, laughing, he says, "Why? Well, because all I wanted was your love, a little affection, more than just a hug or a kiss now and then, more than what you gave me. I loved you, but you could return that love, no anything but that. You took me for granted and then when things got too serious for you, you took the easy way out and left."

Pacing like a caged animal, Steven continued, "You hit the road and came here to this worthless burg. It really hurt when you left, Jane, and it hurt even more seeing you with this moron, Jeff. So now, the way I see it is, that it is my turn to hurt you. And believe me Jane this is going to hurt like hell."

Jane had crawled backwards to the alley wall, still crying, blood flowing from the cut on her lower lip. "S s surely you can't be serious about doing this, Steven?"

"Oh, but I am, I've never been more serious." He said.

Moving toward her, he reaches into his jacket and pulls out a knife, but there's a noise behind him which he ignores. With every step he takes the noise becomes louder. Steven pauses for a moment when he decides to take note of the noise. After taking a few seconds to glance around the alley, he decides to continue and does so without hesitation.

From behind him in the shadows a figure emerges, massive and imposing, ominous in its very appearance. Noticing the figure, Jane screams a deathly scream. At this, Steven is filled with confidence, thinking that she was screaming for him not to hurt her.

Suddenly, Steven lunges toward Jane, but he's stopped short when the figure grabs his collar and in that moment of unexpected resistance Steven panics, dropping the knife and starts to run. While running he looks back and sees the figure still there, but in doing so he trips over an empty beer bottle. Lying there on his back with the figurer nowhere in sight, Steven breathes a brief sigh of relief. His relief is short lived however, as he realizes the figure could still be anywhere.

And so, with speed borne of an adrenaline rush, Steven gets to his feet to escape this thing that came at him out of the dark. As he turns around, he walks right into the figure. Backing away, he tries to make a break for the main road, but never makes it. Instead he gets his wind knocked out from behind. The figure lifts Steven to his feet so their eyes meet. And staring into those red eyes, Steven believes for that this is the moment he is going to die.

Then the figure releases Steven and pretends to leave. In that split second of a moment, boldness washes over Steven and he tries to attack the figure. His attempt at retribution fails dismally and utterly. Somehow the figure sensed the threat and moving so swiftly and precisely, he knocks Steven to the ground once more. The punch was so lightning quick that Steven didn't even see it coming, nor did he really feel anything until he was lying on the flat of his back in the partially melted snow.

Nearly unconscious, Steven gets up and once again tries to measure up to the figure, adrenaline and boldness still flowing through him. He throws a punch toward the figure, but it is dodged with such agility that he's caught off guard again. In that moment of avoiding Steven's punch, the figure delivers one of his own with such accuracy and precision that he breaks several of Steven's ribs. The punch is, in fact, so precise that it breaks the ribs cleanly, not shattering them, which would cause internal damage to Steven's organs.

Steven tries to throw a feeble right cross, but the figure hit him with an uppercut to the nerve of his inner bicep, sending a shockwave though his body. Then the figure spins on his left foot with the grace of a ballet dancer, delivering a spinning heel kick to the back of Steven's head, knocking him unconscious.

The figure stands towering over Steven's seemingly lifeless body. Then, bending down and leaning over Steven he places a feather and a string of beads on his chest. During this whole ordeal the figure's face and body are concealed in the shadows, as though some mysterious force drew them to him. After placing the feather and beads on Steven's chest, the figure disappears back into the shadows, from where he came.

Through it all, Jane remained where she was against the alley wall, shocked and confused. No one besides her, Steven and the figure knew what had transpired in that barren alley until she reported the incident at the local police precinct.

Meanwhile, in another city, a young man is relaxing in his apartment, watching a Dick Tracey movie. He had just gotten comfortable and very interested in the movie when the phone rings. "Hello?"

"Hey stranger, yer late fer our date. Do I haveta come over there and drag that cute behind of yers outta there?"

"Oh, crap. Yes, I'm sorry, Clancy. Please give me ten minutes and I'm there." Hanging up the phone, he gets dressed and exactly ten minutes later a very well dressed Dick Grayson arrives at the Newhaven Restaurant to meet the very beautiful and stunning, Bridget Clancy.

The evening goes well with the two of them enjoying their dinner and afterwards they go dancing. They both agree that the evening had been fantastic as they walk home. On their way home they stop at a coffee shop and get themselves each a warm cup of cocoa, just the right thing to drink in winter.

Dick walks Bridget right to her apartment door and kisses her goodnight.

"Don't ye wanna come in fer a nightcap, Dick?"

"Oh, gosh Clance, that would be great and all, the thing is though I have to be somewhere else for a meeting in half an hour. I really am sorry, could we do it another time perhaps?"

Smiling, Bridget shakes her head and says, "Always something with you, but okay fine. Perhaps, another time then?"

"Thank you so very much for understanding. You're too good to me. I don't deserve to have you as a friend." Then he kisses her one last time and heads to his apartment on the fourth floor.

Back in Gotham, shortly after the figure left, a hooded man in a cloak arrived at the scene where the figure had beaten up Steven. The alley was quiet now except for the groaning of the man on the ground. The items on the man's chest, a feather and a string of beads, makes the hooded man smile. _Hmm, still so sentimental about human life._ _That was always your weakness and now it will be your downfall._ Reaching into his cloak, he reveals a Japanese Katana. He stares at it for a moment as glints in the feint moonlight. Placing the tip of the sword on Steven's belt buckle and begins pacing around him, muttering an unintelligible monologue. Then he removes the sword from the buckle, while continuing to pace, then coming to halt on Steven's left. Swinging the sword in the air, the hooded man smiles as it whistles through the air and so swiftly and without even a moment's hesitation, he plunges the sword through Steven's heart.

**21 December 2001.**

Daybreak back in the big city, the suns in not out due to the cloud cover that came in with the cold front that moved in during the night. It had snowed right through the entire night. The police and paramedics have parked their cars and ambulances outside the Gotham Knights Dome Sporting complex, where the master of the Wing Chun Martial Arts School has been found dead. Detective Ryan Williams of the G.C.P.D, is at the scene questioning the caretaker. "Now, you found the body, is that correct?"

"Yes, it was right after I started my shift at 6:30 this morning."

"And there was no one else here at that time?"

"Right, I am always the only one here at that time. See, only Master Chung and I have keys for the back entrance. Sometimes he stayed here late after hours and lock-up when he was done. This morning though, the door was unlocked, which I found very odd."

"Was there perhaps anybody that seemed suspicious, perhaps someone that had a grudge against Master Chung?"

"If there was anyone that had a grudge against the master, I am not aware of it. And now that I think about it there was somebody here late yesterday afternoon."

"Do you think you could describe this person?" Williams asked.

"Well, I don't know what this person looked like, as he was wearing a cloak with the hood pulled over his face."

"Right thank you. We'll be in contact if there are any more questions and here's my card if you think of anything else." Williams said as he handed the caretaker his card.

At the same time, just a few blocks across town, an almost identical investigation is taking place in the alley behind the Kronos building, where a man named Steven Dougal has been found dead. A tenant living in the building came across the body while taking out her trash.

"Good morning, I'm Detective John Allen, ma'am."

"Morning Detective, it's **Miss** Rita Haywood, by the way."

"Sorry, **miss** Haywood. Did you see or hear anything prior to finding the deceased? Perhaps anything during the night?"

"No, nothing out of the ordinary, I'm afraid. But then, there are always screams coming from the alleys in this neighborhood, so I didn't make much of the screams I heard last night I swear it gets worse every year."

"Thank you, Miss Haywood, we'll be in touch."

Later, at the G.C.P.D headquarters, Commissioner James Gordon is sitting in his office along with Detectives Bullock and Montoya, discussing the day's cases. Taking a sip of his coffee, Gordon says, "So, bring me up to speed on what's going on in the city."

Standing with a cigar in his mouth, Bullock says, "Well, we've got two murders. Allen and Williams are on them. They're filing reports as we speak. So far all we know is that one of the victims is Master Chung from the Wing Chun Martial Arts School at the Gotham Knights Dome Sporting Complex. The other, is someone named Steven Dougal. We're still waiting for the reports from the coroner and the boys from the Crime Scene Unit. There was also a report of a mugging of some kind, apparently in the same alley as where Dougal got dead."

"Well, do you think that maybe I could get a look at those reports today? If it's not too much trouble. Anyway is there anything else?"

Montoya hands Gordon two folders and says, "These are the preliminary reports on the murders." She then sits back while he opens the first folder and begins to read. While Gordon reads, she and Bullock wait patiently for him to finish.

Finally when Gordon had finished reading, he gets up from his chair, balls his right hand into a fist and slams it into the desk, spilling his coffee in the process. Pausing for a moment, he then turns to the window and says, "All right, we've got two dead bodies in the morgue. I want to know why they are dead, besides the obvious reasons. Both these victims have the same bruises and a single stab wound to the heart. Could be a serial killer, maybe it's a coincidence? I want to make sure first. In the meantime, the two of you are on these cases. I'll assign Allen and Williams to other cases. Find out if these victims were linked in some way. See what you can get from our people on the streets, but first get all you can from Allen and Williams." Sitting back down, Gordon says, "Well, go on, get out there and solve these cases."

With that, Bullock and Montoya get up and leave the Commissioner's office, closing the door behind them and noticing it's lunchtime they head down stairs to the cafeteria. After lunch they head back to their desks to get working on the cases by getting everything from Allen and Williams. They began by going to speak to the first-finders again.

Night time in the big city and like usual James Gordon is on the roof of the police headquarters. Turning on the Bat-signal, he looks up where, just like every other time, it blazes in the night sky. Standing there on the roof he wonders why he hasn't heard from Batman yet.

Then from behind in the shadows a voice comes, "Is something wrong, Jim?"

Gordon spins around, frightened by the words so suddenly spoken behind him, then takes a second to compose himself. "Dammit man, can't you ever greet like a normal person," he says and takes a drag of his cigarillo and continues, "Have you heard?"

"Not any specifics," is the reply from the shadows.

"Three victims, Master Chung of the G.K.D.S.C, some guy named Steven Dougal and a John Doe were all found dead. All evidence indicates murder on both victims. Very similar in execution, both died of a single stab wound to the heart," Gordon then bent down and picked up three folders that were lying on the ground and held the out.

A gloved hand reaches out from the shadows and takes them. Opening the files, Batman steps out of the shadows and into the light, glancing at the pictures that the photographers took at the scenes. "The autopsies?" he asks.

"Nothing yet, the medical examiner said we'd have them in the morning. I suspect that we're looking at a possible serial killer here, but of course I have been wrong before. The victim called Steven Dougal was found in a deserted alley. The John Doe was found on O'Neill Avenue down the street from the 7-Eleven where reportedly someone had been mugged as well. The 911 call coincides with the coroner's approximate time of death. I have Bullock and Montoya working these cases, but as you know yourself that our resources only go that far."

"Of course, I'll look into it."

Gordon then turned away to out over the city and said, "I've got a feeling that this thing could get bigger. All these empty new buildings have created so many places where the killer could hide out, after the 'quake destroyed most of the city. These new buildings are just the attraction criminals need to harbor themselves. Still, I am sure that we will get on top of this situation." Not realizing that Batman has already left, Gordon turns and the word he was about to say next got stuck in his throat.

"Damn, I wish he would stop doing that." Gordon said as he lowered his head in dismay, because once again Batman had disappeared into the night without a trace. So, while stitching off the Bat-signal, he decides to go back inside and get out of the cold night air. Opening the door he walks down the stairs to his office to collect his coat and some other belongings. As he gets in the elevator his mind is a rush of thoughts about the day's cases, but feels there's always a fairly good outcome when Batman is on the case. The elevator stops on the lobby floor and Gordon gets out. He greets the night shift men and women and then finally heads home.


	3. Chapter 3

**April 1975.**

English Lord Richard Thomas and his family set up camp at an abandoned outpost situated at the base of the Himalayan Mountains in the country of Bhutan close to the Chinese border. The camp was one of the many that the many left abandoned by the nomads when they pack up their possessions and move on. This particular camp was close to the Sankosh River, about fifteen miles from the border and about the same distance from the town of Panukha.

During the night, the Thomas' youngest son Christian went outside to play by the fire. He hadn't been there very long when he heard a noise coming from the forest. He was curious, as most seven-year-old children are and without thinking he ventured into the forest to find out what the noise was.

Christian was an orphan that the Thomas' adopted in London. His own parents passed away when he was but two years old, from an illness which the doctors could not identify. Christian and his parents immigrated to England shortly after he was born, eighteen months later they passed away. They didn't have any relatives either and so he was sent to the orphanage in London. The Thomas' adopted him his three years later.

When Lady Evelyn Thomas went outside to look for Christian, she found that he was not by the fire where he said he would be. She called to him but there was no answer, then she called again and still no answer. Lord Thomas who was chopping wood with their eldest son came to her and asked what was wrong. "Well, he asked if he could play outside for a while. I told him that it was fine and he said that he would be playing by the fire. He must've wandered off somewhere. I just hope he didn't go near the forest."

"Ok, Jonathan and I will go and have a look for him, he couldn't have gone far." He has to be somewhere."

Putting his axe, Lord Thomas went into the outpost, got a torch and a rifle for protection and went to look for his son. He went to the fire first, searching for footprints. He had been a tracker in the British SAS, so he knew how to follow a trail of footprints; he knew what to look for. So, he followed Christian's trail and it led to the forest. Almost a hundred feet into the forest he noticed a second set of footprints, these much larger than that of his son's. These footprints were clearly those of an adult's and they followed his sons' footsteps for nearly another hundred feet. While searching for his son, Lord Thomas wandered just what exactly it was that could have made his son come this far into the forest alone. He was truly worried by now as he had as yet not found any sign of his son.

Something about the trail changed, the larger prints were different as the adult were running. But not like a normal runner's print, that was typically heel-toe, no these prints suggested that the adult was running on his toes, like he was trying and succeeding in doing it silently. Not far after Lord Thomas found these prints, his son's prints seem to disappear and so did the adult's. _No, this can not be happening. Not now, not here_. Lord Thomas thought to himself.

When the prints stopped, he stopped as well. Lord Thomas spun in all directions, pointing his feeble torch in every direction then, while turning every which way his eye catches something in the torch light, a flash of color. Immediately he rushes to see just what exactly it was that he saw. It was the sleeve of Christian's shirt and it was pinned to a tree along with a note, with a hunting knife. Lord Thomas stood his rifle against the tree and hastily removed the knife, the note and sleeve. Quickly he tucked the sleeve into his trouser pocket and the note into his shirt pocket. He couldn't read the note right there even if he wanted to because the torch's batteries were beginning to fade. He tucked the knife into his belt at an angle so it wouldn't stab him accidentally, then picked up his rifle and headed back to the outpost.

When he arrived at the outpost, Lady Thomas was pacing around the fire. She ran to her husband even before he reached the fire. Frantically she asked where their son was, but Lord Thomas just stood there with his head lowered and shook it slowly.

Lord Thomas then led her back toward the fire while he told her, what had happened and what he had found. When they reached the fire, he removed the note from his pocket and began reading it. The note was written in broken English, "I sorry bear attack boy. See bear attack boy no live so sorry. I try save too late. Offer apology to you."

Lord Thomas looked up at his wife, "That's all. There's no name or anything else. Just this note, the knife and Christian's blood smeared shirt sleeve."

"Oh, Richard, what are we going to do? Are we just going to leave it at that? We can't just accept that what that note says is true, can we?"

"No Evelyn, we're not going to just accept it. But there is nothing much we can really do in the dark. Now, I know, he's my son too, but listen to reason. The torch batteries are almost dead and even if we use fire torches they won't last that long either. Our best chance will be to wait till morning. However, I will take one of the guides along with some provisions and go searching. While you and Jonathan wait here with the other guides in case Christian shows up."

Lord Thomas, his wife and Jonathan mourned for Christian, but never gave up hope of him being alive. Where other people would change their last will and testament in such instance, Lord Thomas did not. The Will stated that if he should pass away, his wife would be in charge of the fortune. However, both of them should pass away, the eldest son would receive the family fortune. If he should pass away, the remaining family member will receive the family fortune. So it was that after ten years of living in London. Lord Thomas was chosen to be the Royal Attaché in Gotham City at the Museum of Natural History. He would be in charge of the Antiquities Wing.

**February 1985.**

Meanwhile, ten years later in Bhutan, Christian has wound up at a monastery. After his apparent death, the man who kidnapped him sold him as a slave and one year later, at the very spot where the man kidnapped him, he ran away. The man that bought him had asked him to go and collect wood for the fire, which was just the chance he needed to make his escape. He was eight years old at the time and he had enough sense to know that he needed to escape so he ran toward the mountains where, hidden in the forest, was a temple. Christian thought to himself that he could hide there until his 'Master' had left. The Monks embraced this young, Chinese boy with the English accent, with open arms.

Ten years at the monastery had gone by and in that time he had learned everything there is to know about six different styles of martial arts. Having nothing further to teach the young man, twenty years of age now, the monks bid him farewell and he went on his way. Before returning to his homeland of England, of which the monks told him a great deal. He crossed the Chinese border and there he ventured the country for the next five years of his life. Christian learned every position, punch and kick of the art known as Tai Chi. Christian travelled through the provinces, wearing a hooded cloak, avoiding the capitals.

On his way to Hong Kong, before entering the small village of Simao, he came across an old man sitting on the side of the road. The old man looked like a beggar to Christian, so he walked up to him and shoved a hand full of money in his hand. Immediately after the old man jumped up and yelled something in Chinese and being around for some time Christian had learned to speak the Chinese language as well. Christian replied in Chinese, "Hey, old man, if you want to be ungrateful, I can always take it back."

The old man's voice grew calm when Christian spoke. The old man motioned for him to come close and moving close, the old man lifted his hands and put them to Christian's face. The old man was clearly blind, Christian thought.

Inviting Christian to go home with him, the old man offered to cook him dinner. He told Christian that his name was Lao. Lao remembered Christian telling that he had been studying martial arts, so Lao asked Christian if he would help him around the house. Christian would help Lao with things he could no longer do himself.

He would be like being a butler but, not quite and in exchange Lao would reveal his secrets of a martial art that has long thought to be extinct. True it is that the name of this art is a secret and Lao was only one of a few people that still practiced the art. Although the name is unknown, the code of this is still alive and well. Those who still practice the art, faithfully know it by its modern name of the 'Raven's Hand.'

Lao started to recite the code of the 'Raven's hand.' The code states that he who has mastered it can take on as many students if he so wishes. However to do this he must stage a tournament of some sorts. From there he can choose his students freely. When the tournament cannot be staged due to extenuating circumstances the Master may take on anyone he thinks is worthy. That is the reason that so few people know, practice and live this particular art.

Lao carried on reciting the rest of the code for Christian. The five years that followed he learned and perfected every move and then tragedy struck. Lao fell ill and was longer able to instruct Christian physically or so Christian was led to believe. It was inexplicable how the illness took its toll on Lao. However, it was not fatal. Lao lost the use of his legs, but that did not matter because Christian had already learned the physical part the 'Raven's Hand' martial art. The only thing left for Lao to teach him was the mental discipline to complete his training.

**14 December 2001. **

It was now six years since Christian found his place with Lao and it was in those first days of December that, Lao realized that eventually the time would come for Christian to leave. So he staged his own death one day when Christian went to get some supplies, as a test. So not being old, blind or paralyzed, Lao set out stage his death. He killed an innocent man passing by. He disfigured the man's face that Christian would not recognize that it was not he that was dead. When Christian came back with the supplies, he noticed that Lao was not inside the house.

Going outside to look for him, Christian found a body lying on the ground behind the house. In appearance the corpse looked like Lao and Christian saw that 'the killer' disfigured his face, he didn't even bother considering anything but murder. Christian knew that 'the killer' murdered Lao and that he would return. When that moment came 'the killer' would meet the same fate as Lao. So Christian waited for 'the killer' and sure enough he returned in the morning, sent by Lao, 'The killer' confronted Christian outside the house. They fought for what seemed like hours. Christian almost killed 'the killer,' but remembered thee lessons at the monastery, 'All life is sacred.'

So he packed his things and left for Calcutta, India where he could get a flight back to England. Lao saw the fight and was upset by his students' failure to kill. He then decided to follow him wherever he went to keep testing him. Lao then killed 'the killer' and went on his way.


	4. Chapter 4

**19 December 2001.**

Five days later Christian arrived in India. Upon reaching Calcutta he purchased a ticket to London. The flight departed at 10:00 pm. When he arrived in London, he asked the taxi driver to take him to the River Thames. The monk taught him all about England and that Parliament was situated there. A taxi took him to Parliament and there he went looking for his parents, lord and lady Thomas.

Someone at the emigration department told him that they moved to Gotham City in the United States of America some years ago. The Minister of International Affairs had appointed Lord Thomas the Royal Attaché at the Gotham City Museum of Natural History. Dismayed at the fact that he'd accomplished nothing yet, he returned to the hotel where he was staying and afterwards went to the airport purchasing a ticket to Gotham City, America.

After a long flight he arrived in Gotham City. A taxi drove him to a hotel where he could sleep for the night and after that he will continue his search.

The figure seemed to be shrouded in darkness, even as he moved into the light the shadows clung to him like white on rice. It was as though the light from the street lamp were seemingly powerless against the shadows that surrounded him.

Walking slowly and purposefully towards his unsuspecting prey, the streets lamp on O'Neile Avenue dimmed as if someone was playing with a light switch. The figure's prey was mugging an elderly man, walking home after returning from the corner 7-Eleven with milk, bread and flowers for his wife.

In an instant the figure was pulling his prey away from the elderly man and as he began dishing out his own brand of justice, the elderly man stood transfixed, frozen with amazement at the ferocity of his rescuer.

When the figure finally stopped, his prey lay on the ground, out cold and breathing steadily. He was careful not to injure his prey too badly, wanting only to send a message. The old man pulled himself together, gathered his purchases and slowly walked over towards the figure.

"Th-tha-thank you for saving me." He said as he came to stand next to the figure. "Is he going to be all right?' he asked

"He'll be fine," the figure said.

"Who are you?" the old man wanted to know as he bent down to pick his wallet up.

"I am Vengeance."

That is all that the figure said and when the old man looked up the figured was gone. Shrugging his shoulders, the old man turned, but before he left he noticed the feather and beads along with the note, lying on the mugger's chest. The note read, **'Vengeance is mine.'**

Leaving the mugger where he was, the old man continues on home, stopping only at a phone booth to call 911.

The hooded man watched with satisfaction at the scene unfolding in the street below. He was standing on the rooftop of a building across the street and he could see everything clearly as the building only had two floors. When the scene ended and only the mugger left lying on the ground, he used the fire escape and went down to where the muggerlay.

The street was totally deserted.

Just as he did with Steven, he stood over the mugger, grinning at the sentiment of the feather and beads, but this time there was something new, a note. The hooded man bent down and read the note and laughed. He then removed all the items except the note and replaced them with different ones of the same type.

Rising again he said, "No. No my young friend, Vengeance is mine." He then withdrew the sword from within his cloak swirling it the night air. Placing the point of the sword on the mugger's belt buckle he yelled, **"Vengeance is mine!" **Removing the sword from the buckle he swirls it once more and without thought thrusts the sword into the mugger's heart.

**20 December 2001. **

In the morning he took a taxi to the Museum, where the minister had said the lord Thomas had been appointed to, determined to find his parents. The receptionist gave him the address where they were staying and from there the continued his search. Standing now in front of the address that he had received, Christian thought to himself that his search is over he pushes the intercom button. A security guard steps out of a small room inside the property and up to the gate.

"I'm here to see Lord Thomas," Christian said.

Stepping back inside the room the guard presses a button and then the gate opens. Christian walks through the gate and along the pathway toward the front door of the house. Knocking at the door the butler opens the door and invites him inside, then asks, "Who may I say is here to see Lord Thomas?"

"I am Christian Thomas, Lord Thomas' son."

The butler excused himself and after a few minutes he returns inviting Christian upstairs. Climbing up the stairs the butler motions him toward a room. Inside the room now he looks at a man in his thirties sitting behind the desk.

Looking at the butler, Christian says, "This man is not Lord Thomas."

Replying the butler says, "I am well aware of that, sir. He is Lord Thomas' son, the new Lord Jonathan Thomas."

Elsewhere in the big city and somewhere, someone has just woken up to go down stairs, eat breakfast and go to a job. Then again others are heading home from working the night shift. Working shifts may be a very typical day for some people, but not for Bruce Wayne, multi billionaire and the owner of three big time businesses, Wayne Corporation, Wayne Tech and Wayne Foundation. His parents, Thomas and Martha Wayne established the latter. No, Bruce Wayne sleeps late and often well into the afternoon and this day is no exception. In the public eye Bruce Wayne is seen as a playboy and reasonable simpleton. He is however, undoubtedly, a very intelligent man taught by the best tutors in the world.

O'Neile Avenue was abuzz with police cars and an ambulance blocking off a section off of the street. A crowd had gathered around the scene. The Gotham City CSI team has arrived only moments before detectives Montoya and Bullock. As the detectives got out of their vehicle the cold wind bit into their faces and they shivered as two patrolmen brought each of them a steaming cup of coffee.

"So, we've got ourselves another dead guy, what a surprise," Bullock muttered more to himself, but Montoya heard and grinned slightly.

The head CSI, Jake Sands, was busy examining the scene when the detectives came to stand next to him.

"Hi Jake, what've we got?" Montoya asked.

"Hi Renee, it's pretty cut and dry. The Victim's got a lot of bruises, which weren't severe enough to be the cause of death here. No, the cause of death was a single stab wound to the heart, exactly the same as the other victims. We've found small traces of metal below the stab wound on the ground; it's on the way to the lab to be analyzed as we speak."

"Was there anything out of the ordinary?" asked Montoya.

"Well now that you mention it, there was a string of beads and what looked to be a Raven's feather on the victim's chest. Oh, and there was a note as well; it reads, '**Vengeance is mine**,'in bold lettering. There wasn't much else besides his fingerprints. He wasn't anyone important."

"Really, just like victim number one. Thanks Jake that'll at least give us something to give the Commissioner."

"All right, no problem," Jake said and turned and called one of the other CSI's.

"I've just thought of something," Montoya said. "Do we know who called this in? Because there's a witness out there that might be in danger. We've got to find him or her before he or she ends up like this too. Jake, could you get one of your guys over to the call center and have them find out where the call came from. If we're lucky our witness' prints could still be on the handset of the phone then we could…" she paused, her thoughts trailing off.

"What is it, what are you thinking, Renee?" Bullock asks.

"Hmm, oh sorry, I was just thinking that it would sure make our jobs easier if we could find the witness and if he or she could us a decent description."

Evening moves in on the city as well as the bitter cold of winter and very soon afterwards darkness covers the still cloudy sky like a blanket. After the opening of the Chinese exhibit at the Museum of Natural History, the hooded man went out into the night to challenge another 'master' of the martial arts. Outside the museum he calls for a cab to take him to the docks of Port Adams. Waiting for him there was Master Fu Long. The two of them wait for the cab to get out of sight and the fight commences like a showdown from a spaghetti movie.

"I know it was you who killed Chung. You never could get over the fact that master Ling had shown more affection toward us as students when we were his pupils." Fu waited a moment then continued, "Not saying anything are we. Well, two can play that game."

The hooded man stood ready waiting for Fu to attack which didn't come, so instead he attacks his prey first like a snake, quickly and effortlessly. With the reflexes of a mongoose the hooded man fends off the vicious counter attack launched by Fu. While the fight rages on. Fog forms and moves in from the ocean and the lights from the docks give off just enough light through the fog so that both men can see.

The hooded man disappears into the fog, toying with Fu, who is left spinning around, looking for him. Out of frustration Fu shouts something in Chinese into the foggy night, which translated would be, "Are you afraid to face me, you coward?"

Stepping out of the fog and into the relative light the hooded man seems to be finished toying with Fu, now facing his quarry head on ready to continue the battle.

Fu launches his attack, but the hooded man deflects the attack with very well executed blocks and retaliates with a lethal punch to Fu's solar plexus. Fu falls to his knees clutching his chest then tumbles to the ground writhing in pain.

"You might have been teachers' pet, Fu, but you were always a lousy fighter. It amazes me that you could even open a fighting school. I mean really did you teach all your students the same weak fighting skills that you have displayed here tonight?" said the hooded man.

Opening his cloak he pulls out a sword from its scabbard and holds it in the air for a moment. The sword gleams briefly in the dim light cast by the dock lamps in the mist. Then just like before, with every one of his victims, he swings the sword around and up into the foggy night air, bringing it down with a rush and thrusts it into Fu's heart. Instantly Fu is dead.

Staring at the lifeless body of the former 'master' called Fu, the hooded man swiftly puts the point of the sword on the wood of the dock, drawing a line right around Fu, mocking the procedures for homicides. A wind rises and blows away the mist that came in from the ocean. The hooded man looms over the body now lying at his feet and as he smiles wickedly he says, "Well Fu, I had hoped to have made your death number one of the twenty one that trained with me all those years ago. I suppose that number six will just have to do. But what does it matter in which you all die, the only thing that matters is that you all die by my hand," And with that said the hooded man then disappears into the bone chilling cold of night.

**21 December 2001.**

The Batcave is dimly lit, but it doesn't seem to bother Bruce Wayne while he's working on the new computer technology that he acquired three months ago. After making a few notes, Bruce starts checking the evidence with other related cases that he had on file, maybe something in these cases would help him to work out these murders. Nothing in the computer files shows any relation whatsoever to this case.

Paging now through the files that he received from the Commissioner again and looking at the photographs that were taken at the scene, he notices something that he didn't before. It is something he hasn't seen in fifteen years and it is unmistakably the work of someone he'd forgotten about, yet there it was right before him the precision of the wounds. It was the "Raven's Hand" right here in his city, but how, there were only a few that know and practice the art.

Looking at the picture again he sees the last piece of the puzzle, the piece that confirms his suspicion, the Raven's feather and the beads. Setting the file down next to him, he dials the number for Oracle.

"Yes Batman. What can I do for you?"

"I need you to call Nightwing for me. There's something big happening here in Gotham City and I can't handle it alone. I don't have all the details as yet, but I ought to know everything by the time he gets here." And that said he cuts the connection.

Oracle contacted Nightwing just as she was asked to or was ordered, well, whatever, she didn't really care.

"Sure, but I'll be there when I'm finished with this case I'm not sure when that will be though. Tell him to expect me when he sees me," he said.

"Well, that's a new approach to dealing with him. You sure you want me to tell him that? You know how he could be, besides, he really sounded worried, well as worried as he can manage. He said that he needed your help on this." Oracle replied.

"Oh really. Tell I'll be there by midnight, maybe," he said and like his mentor just cut the connection.

Oracle felt like screaming at the top of her lungs, because she knew Nightwing, he'd never been like his mentor. Lately, however, he'd been showing the same characteristics as Batman. Maybe, she thought, that it was just a sign that he was really growing up. Maybe someday the two of them could get it together again and finally be happy like they're supposed to be, before that rat bastard, the Joker, shot and crippled her for the rest of her life. "Oh, who am I kidding? Dick will always be who he is and that will never change." She said and turned away from her computer console to get something to drink.


	5. Chapter 5

After arriving in Gotham, Nightwing didn't go to the Batcave directly, instead he decided to do some crime fighting before he '_reported for duty_.'

_What a night for busting some heads_, Nightwing thought as he sat perched atop one of gargoyles guarding the old Gotham Cathedral. The night air is so cold on his face, but not too cold outside. It's the kind of cold that comes just before the rain starts to fall.

Sometimes when he sits on tops of buildings in the city he is amazed by the aesthetics of Gotham; the architecture, the craftsmanship and the way that everything on the ground continues about its business totally clueless as to what is happening in their midst or even tens of stories above them in the Gotham skyline.

Without even a moment's hesitation Nightwing springs into action, inside a second he's on his feet and in the air, free-falling for what seems like an eternity and then the grappling hook of his jumpline finds its mark, which allows him to swing around to the adjacent building, while the wind whistles in his ears.

After almost three hours he gave up the idea of running into any trouble, so he decided to go to the Batcave after all. He wasn't late; in fact he was never late. He arrived in Gotham early expressly for the reason to acquaint himself with the city after being away so long. He found that he moved around with such ease it was as if he had never left.

There was a secret back entrance to the Batcave that only he and Batman knew about and he chose to enter through it. It was about a quarter to twelve, almost midnight. He knew that the entrance would take him to the cave in less than fifteen minutes, so he waited at least five before entering.

The entrance was dark, so he turned on the night visions lenses in his mask. Slowly he walked through the narrow passage knowing that there were no motion sensors or heat sensitive cameras. Looking down from the terrace upon which the passage opened Nightwing saw that the Batcave was deserted, but even so he proceeded carefully. He performed three near impossible aerial maneuvers down from the terrace, Dick lands on the floor of the cave with the style and grace of a gymnast. Dick knew that he was better than any Olympic gymnast because of the fact that he preformed greater feats that any of them could ever do, while he was in the circus.

Looking around at what had been his home for so many years, he doesn't pay attention to the person coming up behind him. From behind him in the dark comes a voice, "Well, don't just stand there we've got work to do."

"Some things never change, do they? Some things, however, do change, I like the new car. Where did you get the design? It looks great."

Bruce walks into the light followed by Tim and Alfred and says, "Harold designed it, you of all people should know that by now, shouldn't you?" Bruce said rather pointedly. Although he would never do it openly, Bruce would like to hug and greet Dick, but he doesn't, even though he loves him like a son.

Dick in turn greets Tim and Alfred.

"Welcome back Master Dick, I trust you will be staying a while, this time." Alfred said.

"Well, that all depends on what the situation is here." Dick replied.

"Here's what we know," Bruce began, "There is someone in the city going around beating people up. At the same time there is someone killing martial arts masters, Gordon thinks that the cases are somehow linked. I am inclined to agree. I've been through the evidence and it certainly seems probable. However, the photographs that were taken at the crime scenes don't support this."

From the desk in front of the computer terminal, Bruce hands Dick the files and continues. "If you look at the first victim you'll see that wounds are inflicted very skillfully, obviously this person knows how to brawl. But the puzzle is the feather and the beads, which does not appear in the photograph of the second victim.

"What is obvious is that the bruises on victim one and those on victim two are inflicted with the same amount of precision, which leads me to believe that perpetrator is in fact one and the same person. However, the stab wounds on both victims are definitely caused by a sharp object, they are nevertheless skillfully executed much the same as the bruises on either victim. Both victims do, however, have the exact same wound inflicted by an extremely sharp object thrust directly through the heart."

Dick flipped through the file studying the photographs carefully, "So if you think that it is one person committing these crimes, why am I here?"

"What I think and believe are two different things Dick. If you can remember, I said that the feather and beads in the picture on victim one bothered me. Victim two had those items too but the feather and the beads were different that those found on victim one, which suggests to me that there are two perpetrators operating in the city. Also the angle of the cuts on victim two reminds me of someone I knew a long time ago.

"The files you are holding are only two of the murders that have taken place thus far. And before you arrived there have been two more victims added to those. I need you to look into the incidents that led to victim one's demise, Dick. Tim and I will concentrate on the others."

"All right, but would it be okay if I settled in first, as you know Blüdhaven is sixty miles from here," Dick said.

To which Bruce replied, "Fine, but you've got thirty minutes to rest and get ready."

"I'll go and ready a sandwich for you master Dick and bring it to your room," Alfred said and they left the cave together.

Later, in his room Dick asked Alfred, "What happened to the old Bat mobile, did he get bored with it again or did he total it again?"

Alfred grinned wide and said, "No, no. Nothing like that, there were complications with the electronics, which were beginning to affect the overall performance of the vehicle. Harold had been busy designing a new model for months before Bruce even asked to see what he could come up with. So, the model you see in the cave is what Harold came up with. Everything has been modified by the 'Mother box' that was left behind after that whole story with Mageddon. We're still not sure whether the 'Mother box' was left here intentionally or by accident. Well, whatever the case may be it has still been most helpful in upgrading all of our systems. After Barbara had studied her systems carefully and thoroughly she came here to upgrade the Batcave's systems as well."

"I see. And why hasn't she offered to do the same for me? I help out here now and again you know." Dick said indignantly, then continued to say, "I am glad to be here again, Alfred, it's like I never left."

Sometime after returning to the Batcave, Batman motions to Nightwing and says, "Come with me. Four years ago I was approached by Star labs, while I was inspecting the progress on certain projects at Wayne Tech. Professor Emil Hamilton, stationed in Metropolis at the time, was already waiting for me in the conference room when I arrived.

"Hamilton told me that more or less 30 years ago a meteor shower heralded the arrival of Superman, or so he believed. Apparently he had invented a device that would detect these meteors. Anyway, the details of the meeting aren't important.

"In the following two years, Wayne Tech and Star labs worked in conjunction to find these meteorites. It turns out that the whole American continent was strewn with fragments of the planet Krypton. However, the search for meteors was abandoned as none were found to contain any Kryptonite. Wayne Tech withdrew its funding when the project failed to produce results.

"With the project abandoned, Wayne Tech still retained ownership of the meteors, which was then collected and shipped from Metropolis to Wayne Tech headquarters for further studies. A metallurgist discovered that, at least five hundred of the twenty-five hundred meteors found, contained traces of an unidentified metal. These last two years, Wayne Tech has used its resources to study and remove the metal from the meteors."

In the dim light of the Batcave, Bruce spins his chair to face the screen of the newly 'Mother box' upgraded Batcomputer. The mother box was left behind in the confusion that followed the defeat of Mageddon. Following a voice command from Bruce, a holographic screen appeared capable of displaying every possible color in the color spectrum. One of the capabilities of the upgraded computer is that the holoscreen responds to touch, it is not necessary for a keyboard or even a mouse. This is but one of the few operational properties of the computer, the full potential of the computer's capabilities is yet to be discovered. With a few touches to the holoscreen, Bruce brought up a report. An image of a small black square appeared with its measurements indicated as well.

"I take it that is the metal you spoke of?" asked Dick

"Yes, at first we didn't know what to call it, but a couple of months ago I contacted Clark and shared what I found with him, I also sent him a sample of the metal. I heard back from him yesterday and the information he sent me was astonishing.

"Apparently this metal is called, 'Kryptoniume' and it is the strongest and most durable metal in our galaxy and likely the most valuable as the amount that was extracted from the meteors is the only cache to be found on earth. According to him," Bruce said, pointing at the holoscreen, "this piece of metal is currently worth nothing more than a paper weight, as in its current form it can't be melted down due to its strength."

"Why is that?"

"Well, while inside earth's atmosphere and under the influence of our sun, much the same as Clark, it receives its strength from the sun. It is consequently impossible to smelt Kryptoniume. Clark suggested that we recreate Krypton's atmosphere in a lab along with a kiln to melt the Kryptoniume. He also said that we should do it as soon as possible, because the longer the Kryptoniume is exposed to our sun the longer it will take drain it from the power it's received from the sun.

"Clark said that the recreation of Krypton's atmosphere with Earth's limited technology would take too long and that we should rather wait for him to conduct the tests within in the fortress of solitude, where he already has an area that resembles the atmospheric conditions of Krypton.

"With a little help from Kelex, Clark unearthed some very interesting things about Kryptoniume. Firstly, it doesn't affect him the way that Kryptonite does, so he is able to touch it. Secondly, it doesn't emit any radiation whatsoever, which unlike Kryptonite means it's perfectly harmless to humans. And thirdly, it is possible that with prolonged exposure to the radiation of our sun, it could have similar traits as Green Lantern's ring. We're not completely sure yet, but Clark and Kelex are still conducting more tests.

"I am however concerned that this metal could still harm Clark. If it were to leak out that something like this existed and I am not saying that it would but stranger things have happened. I mean if it could be melted down then any number of weaponry could be constructed. Who is to say that with its strength that it could not seriously injure or perhaps even kill Clark?"

"Have you told Clark about your concerns?"

"No yet, but I think that perhaps it has occurred to him as well. Anyway that's it for the science lesson for tonight. There is work to be done."

A howling wind sweeps through the streets and over the rooftops of Gotham, while the Dark Knight patiently waits for his prey to make their mistake. On a ledge of a building in the warehouse district, the world seems oblivious to his moments, then as if speaking to a ghost he says, "You needn't slink in the shadows, you know."

After he'd spoken, just six feet from where he was, Superman appeared, his cape billowing in the wind. "Well, hello to you too, Bruce!"

"What brings you to Gotham, Clark?

"Yes straight to the point as always, well, I'm here because five dead martial artists washed up in Metropolis harbor within the last week and they have, each and every one, been identified as Gothamites. The mayor is concerned and he's getting pressure from a bunch of organizations to get this problem solved."

"Those martial artists could have come from anywhere," Bruce says and looks at Clark then says, "Oh relax will you, I know, that's why I'm here on this ledge at one in the morning. I've already read the medical examiner's reports; whoever is killing these martial artists is good, damn good. However, there's always someone better. Batman kept quiet for a moment then said, "I'm working on it."

And without another word Superman was gone, flying off into the night not the slightest bit affected by the strength of the howling wind.

Undeterred by this conversation, Superman's abrupt departure or the sudden streak of red and yellow lightning that just shot past on the street below, Batman mentally makes a note to ask Wally what he was doing in Gotham.


	6. Chapter 6

**22 December 2001. **

For Selina Kyle, the part of her life she most enjoyed was the times when she'd go out on the prowl at night. Especially when she's been hired to do a job by rich men, who long for the illegal procurement of highly sought after priceless artifacts. The skills she'd learnt from Ted Grant, aka Wildcat, had been the launch pad for her criminal career as the Catwoman, the only person yet to be captured by Batman and the G.C.P.D.

Catwoman decided that tonight would be the takedown after a week's worth of checking the target out. Her target was the office of Joseph 'The Gun' Tuscani at Tuscani Trading and Shipping. She knew that 'The Gun' and his fellow bosses were in the boardroom collaborating of something or other, but it did not bother her. She could get in and out without them noticing, she knew this because she was that good. The take on this job for her would be seven figures if nothing went wrong, not that it would be a problem for her, because after all she is Catwoman. Besides she's never been caught yet and in all probability never would, but as for things going wrong, well she's always prepared for 'Murphy's law' tossing a wrench into her affairs. There hasn't been a job yet where something didn't go wrong. But that didn't matter, because whatever happened she was prepared for any eventuality.

While perched on the ledge of the adjacent building she heard a commotion in a nearby alley. So she decided to go and see what the ruckus was about as it wouldn't do for the police to show up there just as she was preparing to execute her plan. When she got to the alley counted thirteen people that appeared to all be men but she couldn't be sure until she had a closer look. The scene that was painted before her was one of bedlam.

The building was too high up to properly see what was happening and so Catwoman decided to move down on the fire-escape to get a closer look. When she got to the second floor landing on the fire-escape she saw that these people were all me just as she suspected. Twelve of the men were standing in a semi-circle and cheering, while the thirteenth stood at what looked to be a makeshift altar. It was when she focused on the altar that she heard the calls from the animal that was bound to it. Up to that point the men's cheering and howling drowned out the animal's cries.

_Well, it seems tonight is your lucky night Mr. Tuscani_, she thought. The animal was a black cat and immediately she sprang into action, she was not about to let those barbarians do whatever it was that they intended to do the cat. If there was absolutely one thing that aggravated her beyond anything else in the world it was cruelty to animals, any animal, but especially towards those of the feline persuasion. _The score be damned tonight_, _no animal will be abused tonight or any other night while I live in this city._

There was no way that she could land safely without anyone of these sickos spotting her, so she just got to them as fast as she could and hope to surprise a few of them at least. As she landed in a crouch behind the men standing in the semi-circle, the man at the altar saw her and shouted at the others. Catwoman took out the first guy aiming a well-placed elbow to his temple and rendered him unconscious. Guys numbers two and three went reeling as she shoved number two toward three causing them to knock their heads together.

That served to buy her some time to take on the other nine, which had resorted to gathering random items to act as makeshift weapons. When she noticed their weapons she did a backwards handspring and created some space between them and herself and landing on her feet in a defensive potions she instantly had her whip in her hand. She let it loose upon these twisted freaks, disarming them one at a time, the crack of each lash sounding like a gunshot within the confines of the alley.

As each of them was disarmed by the deadly lash of her whip they tucked tail and ran, deciding that they didn't want anything to do with this whip wielding fury. Only the man at altar remained where he was, only now he had a knife pointed at the cat, which growled and hissed to be set free and sensing the imminent danger.

Catwoman, still cracking her deadly whip slowly stalked toward the sicko at the altar, she could see the man's could almost feel the palpable fear that emanated from him and she relished in the sensation of power that the whip afforded her. "Let… the… cat… go," she yelled over the sound of the cracking whip.

"No!" he yelled back at her. "A sacrifice must be made!"

Catwoman stopped cracking the whip so she could try and talk to this guy and asked, "What are you talking about? What sacrifice?"

She had barely spoken those words when she heard the distinct noise of something that she was all too familiar with. It was a Batarang and it sang in the air straight toward the knife in the man's hand knocking it clean away from the hapless cat. That gave Catwoman the opportunity to throw a shuriken of her own, one that cut away the cat's bonds and freed the cat. Free of its bonds the cat became feral and attacked the knife wielder, its claws out scratching and clawing for all it was worth, fighting for its life.

When the cat was done, the sicko was on the ground clutching at wounds on his arms that would leave scars to remind the sicko to never tangle with a cat again. Even his face was attacked and the wounds there would require stitches. The sight of the man in pain left Catwoman with a sense of satisfaction, that the cat was safe and that even if it was not by her own hand, the man had received what was coming to him.

Batman had in the meantime come out from the shadows and stepped up to Catwoman's side.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him as she stepped away and toward the cat that still had its hair raised and hissing at the man.

He turned to look at her and thought, _she is so much like me_. "A simple thank you would be nice," he said instead as he followed her.

"I didn't need your help," she said as she hunched down and stroked the cat into calming down.

"Really, what would you have done? How would you have disarmed him? His knife was so close to the cat that any movement from you would have caused him to kill it. And how would you have lived with yourself if that had happened?"

Catwoman considered his words and came to the conclusion that what he said was true as she replayed the scene in her mind, but she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of acknowledging the fact that he was right. When she got up to a standing position she had the cat in her arms, loving stroking it and at the same time looking for a tag. It didn't have a tag, so it was a stray and it was a she. Catwoman continued stroking the cat and stepped toward Batman. "She's a stray," she said. "What do you think would be a good name for her?"

Batman thought about her question for a moment, "Well, black cats have always been associated with magic and superstition, so why not take a look at myth and legend. A name that springs to mind is Morgan, as in Morgan La Fay."

"Hmmm… Morgan?" she said considering the name. After she said the name the cat blinked her eyes as if in approval and then just like that it was decided. "Yes, we'll call you, Morgan?" Catwoman agreed.

"Well, I guess I am no longer needed and don't worry I'll have this called in. he needs medical attention," Batman said then turned and left and as he did the thought of Selina frightened him. Even though he knew that she could take care of herself, he was still concerned about her needing to know that she was alright at all times. It was this concern that compelled him to want to reveal to her that he was Batman, but he was hesitant in doing it as well.

He knew that he was eventually going to tell her, but he needed to find the right moment, perhaps after this whole business with this serial killer was over…

Elsewhere, business was starting to rise again after the 'quake destroyed the city. Even the rebuilding of the city took its toll on the business of Joseph 'The Gun' Tuscani. Joseph, capo di tutti capi, the boss of bosses of the mob underground is called 'The Gun' for two reasons. In his younger years he used to be a gun runner for the Falcone's. And secondly, he trained himself to be an excellent shot with nearly any type of gun.

Even though the city has now been rebuilt, some places on the west side are still in ruins and are being used as fronts for the sale of illegal weapons.

In the boardroom of his trading business, in the business district, the Gun has arranged a meeting between the heads of the other families. "Gentlemen, you're probably wondering why you're all here. Well, it's really very simple; we're all here to discuss the unification of the families. All the businesses are suffering under the strain of infighting among the families.

"The Yakuza and the Triads are taking notice of the division between us and they see it as weakness. If we do not put an end to it they are going to muscle their way into our territories and we'll be forced out of Gotham. This situation, gentleman, is very real and needs to be dealt with as soon as possible. We're already feeling the pressure from the Triads. They're already pushing their weapons from China into our streets and the Yakuza are flooding our streets with their drugs. We have to put an end to this immediately. Now, tell me gentleman, does anyone here have any suggestions?"

The question hung in the air like smog and it seemed as though no one had a solution, but then Marco Sagnelli son of Vincenzo Sagnelli spoke up, "Why don't we get someone to take care of the Chinese and Japanese, like an assassin or even a hit-man to make these problems go away for good. What about that Deathstroke guy? He seems to be pretty good from the stories I've heard."

Seeing as no one had a better idea, 'The Gun' considered Marco's suggestion and decided that it was a good one. "Yes that is what we will do. Everybody get your people out on the streets and have them find out how we can get in touch with this Deathstroke. And when they have that information, contact him then set up a meeting between me and him. Is that understood?"

'The Gun' took everyone's silence to mean that everyone had indeed understood then said, "Alright, so with that settled do I everybody's word here that we are going to do this thing together, that we can see this operation through? Are we united in this venture?" Everyone nodded and he continued, "When we have this Deathstroke working for us we have to assist him in any way we can and in any way he needs us, can I count on you all to do this?" he asked and again everyone nodded.

"Well then gentleman that concludes our business until we have contacted Deathstroke. Mille grazie, a presto."


	7. Chapter 7

The Upper East Side at the home of William Connolly, the Blarneys otherwise known as the Black Irish were similarly convening in a meeting of their own, much the same as the Italians, the Chinese and the Japanese were convening their respective houses to review the situation of the rebuilding of Gotham and the potential for expansion and possible pitfalls it held for their businesses. The Blarneys controlled the flow of alcohol in Gotham and her sister city Blüdhaven and as yet they had still not recovered from the losses they suffered as result from the 'quake. While the Mafia and the Yakuza vied for supremacy of Gotham's streets on the drug trade front, the Chinese had their grip firmly on the weapons market. In years gone by, before the 'quake, these syndicates were relatively peaceful toward each other with the exception of the Mafia and the Yakuza.

The 'quake however, mucked up their operations, during the period after the earthquake and before the rebuilding sales dropped by astronomical margins. And while they tried to recover their enterprises in other cities the losses they suffered hung over their heads like storm clouds, but they never recovered. So, when it was announced that Gotham was to be rebuilt they seized the opportunity to regain their former glory. Even now, with the city not nearly completely rebuilt the syndicates were still not back to their former glory and state of wealth.

It was now almost a year since it was announced that Gotham would be rebuilt and still the Blarneys' profits were less than expected. Nothing made sense as to why exactly they could still not show any growth and it was this reason that they were now here, to discuss the matter. They had all their book keepers check the books to try and find out what it could be that was holding their profit making back, but even that didn't help. If anything, checking the books only baffled them even more. William Connolly needed to find the cause and find it quick and he would make it his mission to find out.

Sean O'Malley, a delivery man for the Blarneys, had requested to speak to Will Connolly. He said that he had information to share with him. And so, it was in this meeting that Sean told William about the news he had gathered on the streets. "Mister Connolly, I heard on the streets tha the Triads're lookin' ta expand their businesses. Apparently they are looking into other fields of making money. They're looking to make money off sellin' booze like we are sir an' also to takin' away the drug business away from the Italians and the Japanese. I also heard tha' the Japanese're lookin' ta do the same."

"Is this true, Sean-o? Do you have any proof of this?" William asked.

"Aye sir, I do. Me friend Marcus told me so himself. See he is half-Chinese and he works fer the Triads doin' what I do. Only they don't know tha' his mother was Irish." He said and as he crossed himself he continued, "God rest her soul. She was like a mother to me."

"Alright Sean-o, where is Marcus now?"

"Oh right sir, he is right outside in the hall. I thought that perhaps ye wanted to speak ta him yerself."

"Yes, you thought correctly, let him in and let me hear this from his own mouth."

Sean went outside and brought in Marcus, who seemed a tad nervous, and introduced him to William Connolly. "Go ahead Marcus its okay tell Mister Connolly what ye told me."

Marcus proceeded to tell his story and it was exactly as Sean had told it, but William had a few questions for Marcus when he was finished telling his story. "Thank you Marcus, but tell me, how is it that a half-Irish and half-Chinese lad such as yourself, finds himself working for the Triads? I mean Marcus is not a Chinese name as far I know."

"And you are right about that sir, you see I grew up in America even though my parents met in Ireland. They moved here two years before I was born. So I grew up here and as for the name, I have two names but not many people know that. My full names are Marcus Ling Zhen."

"So Marcus, how are the Chinese treating you? Do you feel they treat you fairly?"

"Well, actually sir, no they don't treat me fairly I am like a floor mop to them."

"Well, would you like to make some extra money?"

"Yes sir, I would very much." Marcus replied.

"Then would you like to be an informant for me and my boys? I will pay you an extra two hundred a week for any information you bring us. How does that sound?"

"Oh, that sounds very good sir."

"Excellent! You start today then. Thank you Marcus, you and Sean may go."

After they left William picked up his phone and dialed a number. The phone on the other end rang twice before it was answered, "Hello, Tommy?"

"The One and only!" the voice on the line replied with a laugh.

"It's William. I need the services of the Hitman. When can we meet?"

"Your place. Breakfast. Don't be late." The voice said and laughed before disconnecting.

This confrontation has been a long time coming, between master and student, Lao thought to himself as he walked along in Chinatown. It would be even more enjoyable to him because of the New Year celebrations taking place within a week's time. The New Year brought with it new possibilities and opportunities and what better way than to begin the New Year with a killing, he thought.

Master Leung was but one of the many that had a hand in training Lao in the days of his youth and tonight it was master Leung's chance to both fight and die. The contract came from Lao's latest employers the Triads and even though Leung was not on Lao's list, he was happy to fulfill his duty._ Master? Ha!_ Thought Lao, _I'm the only master, not even Lady Shiva with her immense knowledge of martial arts can beat me. _ Lao firmly believed in his mind that there was no one alive that could possibly best him in hand to hand combat, he believed that he was the best fighter in the world.

That illusion would certainly end in a few weeks' time as he would find out to his utmost surprise, but for now no one could touch him.

Halfway through his reverie, Lao found himself in front of Leung's Wu Shu. He stood there for a moment not really registering where he was, but then like waking from a dream, he knew. The smells had taken him back to his homeland; the delicacies of Chinese cooking overwhelmed him for a moment and for a mere moment Lao considered the action he must take this night. Shaking his head, he banished the thought and bellowed with laughter.

Even though he had other things, more important things, on his mind than the assassination of his former teacher he continued walking down the street contemplating the method he should use to eliminate Leung. While he did not know or care about the specifics for the hit on Leung, as these things mattered very little to him, he decided to continue with the method he had been employing thus far. He felt that it had been successful so far and that it would be foolish to change tactics at this point in time. For he read about the other murders in the newspapers and even if they were only small articles he was impressed with his handiwork.

He continued down the street and found the alley way leading to the back of the martial arts school and the parking area. It was still early, not yet eleven o'clock and Leung was still busy teaching a class, so Lao found himself a seat in shiny new Ford Mustang Convertible that stood in the parking area. As he sat in the car he found it amusing that the owner didn't even bother locking it or even setting the alarm. After a few minutes of silence he switched the radio on and tuned it to a music channel and waited.

As the night drew on Lao became impatient, he was never big on patience, so he turned the radio off and made his way inside the Wu Shu. Leung was still instructing his students, Lao noted.

When Leung noticed his former student he halted the class intent on introducing him to his pupils. He stepped over to Lao and waited for him to acknowledge him through the usual sign of respect that is displayed when student meets teacher. But that acknowledgement never came.

Lao merely said, "End the class or watch them all die."

Leung blanched at those words, he never expected to hear such words from one of his students, but he found the truth in Lao's words even as he saw them in the man's eyes. Abruptly, Leung dismissed his students. "What happened to you Lao? You were my finest student." Leung said trying to stall what was to come.

Lao didn't bother to answer the question. He merely stood there watching the students leave and finally when they all had left he made sure that none of them re-entered the Wu Shu by telling Leung to lock the doors. Truthfully, Lao didn't care for the lives of the students but he was not there for them. No, he was only being paid to get rid of Leung.

When they had finished locking the doors Lao turned to face Leung and said, "Choose your weapon."

"Can we not talk about this?" Leung pleaded.

But Lao only replied, "Choose a weapon or don't, it matters not. Either way your fate will be sealed tonight. With or without a weapon in your hand, tonight you will die."

Leung considered the words for the few seconds that Lao was quiet and moments before Lao attacked he chose his weapon, it was a Tai Chi sword which he hurriedly plucked from the wall.

The battle ensued as Lao brought into the open his Katana and the two weapons clashed. The sounds of ringing echoed within the room as the metal of the swords met strike after strike. It was clear from the first moments of the fight that Leung was no match for Lao and his tremendous skill and soon Leung was on the retreat. There were no cracks in Lao's attack that Leung could discern and so he just kept on defending, but he knew that it was all for nothing.

Lao faked a stab to Leung's shoulder and in that moment Leung thought of striking at Lao. That movement was the beginning of the end for Leung as he struck Lao quickly parried the strike and ever so deftly stepped inside Leung's defense jabbed his thumb into Leung's throat.

His air supply diminished by the thumb jab, Leung dropped his sword and grabbed his throat, desperately gasping for the precious life giving oxygen of which he was now deprived of. Still gasping, Leung dropped to his knees as he felt himself suffocating.

Lao watched the scene before him, his former _master_ on his knees before him and relished the moment. Then without wasting any more time on foolish sentimentality he lifted his right leg and delivered a savage forward kick to the still gasping Leung's chest, sending him sprawling to the wooden floor some six feet away.

There Leung lay still on the floor, but still alive and Lao, sword still in hand stood there smiling. He then spun his Katana in his hand and tossed it in the air through the distance that lay between him and Leung. The sword never fell to the ground as Lao covered the gap easily while the sword tumbled through the air and abruptly caught it in his raised hand. Then as he dropped to one knee he brought the sword down and stabbed Leung through the heart.

Lao remained in that position for a heartbeat or two then straightened, removing the sword and with the blood still dripping he placed the tip on the floor and carved the man's silhouette into it. Cleaning the sword and returning it to its scabbard, Lao thought that this would become the signature to most of his kills. He pushed the thought aside as he remembered the other piece of business he needed to attend to that night. And as he gave one last look at Leung he smiled and left.

It was now three days since the brothers were reunited and in those three days Lao had watched them tirelessly each day, studying them, he only broke his surveillance when his employers contacted him about the hit on Leung. Lao felt... _how do I feel?_ He asked himself. _Certainly this reunion of brothers has no effect on me or what 1 have to do. I once had a family... How long ago had that been? A lifetime ago it seems. Ah, Chen, my brother. I am so very close to avenging you. Soon, very soon, Wayne will pay for your death and then, perhaps, Mai-lin will take me back. _

But, he put these thoughts aside as he silently moved past the incompetent guard. He had to see his plans through, because Chen's death would not go un-avenged and neither would Christian's betrayal. Lao crept along the massive courtyard unseen and unheard, a wraith among the living. His objective was situated at the rear of the estate, the garage, more precisely the ridiculously pricey Maserati resting inside the garage. Entering the three door garage through a side door, Lao locate the speed machine at the other end of the garage. Lao had learned in the past three days that Jonathan was a notorious speed junkie and so, his plan was to sabotage the car.

Then he got on the floor of the garage and underneath the speed demon car and when he located it he removed the utility knife from his inner jacket pocket and gently cut an 'L' shaped slit into the brake line, his initial. He thought it quite amusing to leave a mark like that for the investigators, for surely there would be an investigation. Such an expensive car didn't just suffer from brake failure after all. Then he slid out from under the car, smiled as straightened and left.


	8. Chapter 8

Later that night Jonathan told his brother Christian that he had a date he was late for, but the truth was that it was an outright lie. Jonathan had a secret life, a life of that no one, except those who partied with him, knew about. He was an addict and he had it bad; sex, drugs and alcohol, but above all he craved the thrill which only came from an adrenaline rush. That night he partook in all of these vices and it was the latter that landed him in critical condition at Gotham General Hospital.

He had taken the Maserati, just as Lao had foreseen, and went to that 'date' he told Christian about. Only it wasn't just him and his lady friend named Cherri, no, there were other people there. It was in essence an orgy of sorts. It was there that he had taken a mild amount of stimulants, just something to get a buzz going and then he led Cherri to one of the many rooms of the mansion which was situated in the Upper East side.

But she stopped him short of the room, she had a better idea and she told him that she wanted to test the car, his car, out. In the state of mind he was in he didn't object and so, they went out to the car and got inside. When he tried to kiss her she once more stopped him and whispered in his ear that she wanted to do it while the car was moving. That got him even more excited as he was planning on having a joyride in any case.

Without hesitating Jonathan put the key in the ignition and turned it. The engine came alive and he revved it for emphasis, smiling at Cherri and revved it again as she returned his smile, but hers was a more playful smile. He put it drive and off they sped down the driveway. He didn't even stop or signal as he exited the driveway and turned left into traffic. All around him car horns sounded and angry drivers slammed on brakes, waving fists and hand signals followed him as he sped away. He made another left without signaling and skipped a red light, then continued on to the next crossroad which brought him to Murphy Avenue.

He turned right into Murphy and by that time Cherri had undone his pants and was busy pleasuring him, which caused him to step harder on the gas pedal. Down Murphy Avenue they rocketed for three blocks where he intended to skip another red light and there it was that the accident occurred. For at that moment he was close to climaxing and so had closed his eyes in satisfaction. He suddenly opened his eyes just before he reached the light and saw the oncoming Mack truck. He realized that he would make it and stepped on the brake. Nothing…

The Maserati continued speeding toward the truck and then the two collided. The result sent the Maserati flying off in the opposite direction and into oncoming traffic all to the sounds of screeching rubber and honking horns. The car hit another car that was too late in braking and the two vehicles skidded to an awful stop on the corner of the sidewalk.

**23 December 2001.**

The weather service reported a fine clear day and so dawn broke over the eastern horizon clean and clear of smog or clouds with the sunlight sparkling off the ocean water surface. The ex-Marine Tommy Monaghan noted the scene as he made his way from his home in the Cauldron all the way across town to the Upper East Side, the home of William Connolly.

The Gulf War veteran, even though he made his living now as a contract killer, could still appreciate such scenes of magnificence. He didn't consider himself totally heartless as he continued on to his meeting with his potential new employer and old war buddy, William "Black Heart" Connolly. It was Tommy that gave William his nickname way back in their Gulf War days. Bill had been a sniper in those days and he was fond of shooting his targets in the heart and Tommy knew of Bill's involvement with the Black Irish even back then.

It had been some time since Tommy last saw Bill as their lives obviously had taken such different directions after the war, but even so they had still kept in touch. He was actually looking forward to seeing his old friend again after so long. __

"Good morning Harvey," Jake Sands said when Sergeant Bullock got inside the Leung's Wu Shu, "this is getting to be a habit. Are you following me or what?"

"Oh real funny Jake, nah you'd know if I were following you. I mean look at me it's not exactly as though you could miss me." Harvey said with a smile on his face. "What do have here?"

"Well, as you can see another homicide, Harv."

"Right. Cause of death?"

"Single stab wound to the heart. The same as the other three victims as well as the bodies we recovered from Metropolis. I think we may have a serial killer on the loose."

"Could be, it very well could be. Do we have any witnesses?"

"None that I am aware of."

"Who found the victim?"

"The caretaker, he's over by the rear entrance and he's really shaken up."

"Okay thanks, Jake. Oh and fill Renee in when she gets here, she's outside talking to some of the students. Seems the news traveled fast on this one. I'm gonna go talk to the caretaker."

"You got it Harv." Jake said as sergeant Bullock left.

Minutes later Bullock returned to Jake's side, the medical examiner was now busy with a preliminary exam of the body, shaking his head he told Jake, "Not much, Renee show up yet?"

"Not yet, I guess she is having more luck that you are."

The ME came over to them and said, "Time of death is somewhere between 11pm and midnight. I'll know more when I get the body back to the lab."

Just then Renee arrived to come and stand beside them. "So what do have here, Harvey?"

"Homicide," he replied, "same MO as the previous murders, single stab to the heart, but this one has the outline carved into the floor just like the Fu Long case. Jake seems to think we may have a serial killer on the loose."

"Yes," Jake said, "I was telling Harvey about the other bodies that were found in Metropolis Harbor, which all had the same single stab wound to the heart. Though I can't figure what the significance of the outline around the body is as it's not a procedure we use anymore."

"Did you get anything from the students outside?" Harvey asked.

"Yes, it seems the caretaker had contacted one of them and the news spread through the grapevine. They said that they were busy with a late night class when a stranger that the master apparently seemed to know interrupted the class. Not long after the stranger arrived, the master dismissed the class. More than one of the students thought that the master acted a little strange in the way that he dismissed the class. None of them heard a thing from where they were in the locker rooms as the Wu Shu is sound proof. What did you get?"

"Well, the caretaker found the body here around 7am. He says that he found the back door unlocked."

At that revelation, Jake called one of his guys over and told him to check the back door for fingerprints and perhaps any other trace-evidence."

"Right well, let us know then what else you find. We'll be at headquarters if you find anything new," Harvey said then he and Renee left.

Christian sat at his brother's side waiting for him to wake up. He had learned from the butler early that morning about the accident. When he and the butler arrived at the hospital they nurses at first didn't want to allow him to see Jonathan as they felt he was lying about who he said he was. After some minor incident and the clarification from the butler, Christian was finally allowed to see his brother.

When his brother eventually opened his eyes he felt relieved and some hope that the doctors may be wrong about his brother as they didn't think that Jonathan was going to pull through, "Jonny, what happened? The doctors say that you were hit by a truck."

Jonathan, after some minutes trying to focus, eventually recognizes his brother. "I… I don't really know. I was driving down Murphy Avenue and all of a sudden the brakes didn't work. I skipped a red light and… then I woke up here," he lied. "Where… where is Cherri? How is she doing?"

"What about before that? They said that you had a substantial amount of drugs and alcohol in your system," continued on, not wanting to upset his brother by telling him that Cherri didn't make it.

Jonathan's eyes went distant, like he was looking at something faraway, but was in fact trying to remember, then he said, "Yes, well, like I told you I going to that date I told you about, but it was a lie. It was actually a party where I had some drinks and something more. We were driving the Maserati and listening to music. I guess I wasn't paying much attention to the road." Then his body convulsed and he began coughing violently, blood spurting from his mouth.

The nurses came running in then but the episode was over almost before it began and so she just wiped the blood from his mouth and told Christian that he would have to leave soon. He nodded and thanked her as she left.

"You know father never gave up hope that you were alive. Every six months he would assemble an expeditionary team and sent them to search for you. After years of searching mother asked him to stop sending expeditions, she was told him that he was obsessed and that he should just accept that you weren't alive. That was hard on father and he gradually became ill after that. His health got worse as time went by and even on his death bed two years ago he still believed that you were alive. We stayed there in those mountains for a year, searching and hoping that you would somehow return to the campsite. I just wish that you had come back sooner, so we could have spent more time than this together."

"Shhh! don't talk rest."

"There is a file in the safe at home, the combination code is the numbers that correspond with your name and the file is father's last will and testament, he made it so that you would inherit it all. He… he was adamant even on his death bed that you were still alive. Mother and father loved you very much. Everything is yours now old chap, take care of yourself. I love you dear boy." With that he gave his last breath and passed away.

Christian sat there with his brother for long moments, grieving and at the same time cursing fate that he had taken so long to return.

As he wiped the tears from his eyes he remembered the file Jonathan had told him about. Christian went to his brother's study and he had barely stepped inside when he stopped short. He was stunned at how Jonathan's passing could affect him so, especially when he had hardly known and the past few days were hardly enough to catch up a lifetimes worth of memories and feelings. He stood there in the study doorway, his feelings in turmoil and a hurricane of emotions sweeping through him as he realized that now he was truly and utterly alone in this world.

After a moment of standing in the doorway he went over to the safe and opened it by punching in his name. The safe opened and he removed the file and moved over to the desk to read it. The content of the file astounded him; his father had seen to it that Christian would inherit the house, the fortune and everything that belonged to his family including the title of lordship when and if Jonathan should pass away before Christian did.

He sat perplexed and stunned and then it dawned on him that he was now the new Lord Thomas, but that thought he pushed aside as the matter of his brother's funeral needed to take precedence.

Meanwhile, back at Wayne Manor, "Harvey Dent, Edward Nygma, Pamela Isley along with Victor Fries escaped from Arkham Asylum in the early hours of this morning," Alfred read as he held the morning edition of the Gotham Gazette in his hands. "Someone should really put an effort in to making that place more secure," he remarked and not for the first time as Bruce was enjoying his breakfast. "

"It seems that Batman has some work to do tonight, doesn't it?" Bruce replied.

"May I suggest that Master Tim and Mistress Cassandra handle these four while, you're busy with the murder cases. I dare say that as brilliant as you are, you have as yet no lead as to who the assailant is or may be."

"Yes," Bruce said reluctantly, "contact them as soon as you can, then have Oracle check with her contacts to see if anything unusual turns up. Also, have Dick meet me in Chinatown. In the alley behind Leung's Wu Shu, that's where master Leung was found murdered. It looks like our assailant is getting bolder."

"I shall do so. In the meantime everything is ready for your meeting with Mr. Fox at 9am."

"Thank you Alfred, I will be ready in twenty minutes."


	9. Chapter 9

William had a chef prepare a breakfast that would feed at least a dozen people for his meeting with Tommy. It was a luxurious breakfast comprised of different sausages; beef, pork, lamb and chicken with bacon and fried tomatoes, onion rings fried to a crisp. Even eggs were made; fried eggs, scrambled eggs and sunny side up eggs. There were omelets with a filling of garlic chicken and mushrooms, chopped tomatoes and parsley and basil, topped off with mozzarella, cheddar and gouda cheese. The chef had even prepared crispy baked potatoes.

William had it all prepared as he knew that Tommy had his indulgences, among them food and drink, but the drink would have to wait as beer wasn't normally consumed with breakfast. But then this was Tommy Monaghan and well, beer was his favored drink. Still, he thought that perhaps they could do without the beer this once and enjoy something like juice or even some of the rich Middle Eastern coffee he had recently purchased. He decided to have both available on the breakfast table.

He still didn't know how he was going to get Tommy to take out the leaders of the Yakuza and the Triads as he knew that his friend specialized in metahumans mainly. He considered lying to his friend but shook the thought away. _No,_ he thought, he would not lie. He decided that he would just explain the situation to Tommy and let the man decide for himself whether or not he wanted to take the job or not.

Tommy arrived just after 7am. It had taken some time to get to his destination as traffic already hectic at that time of the day, it was even more so because some idiot had apparently decided to crash his car at the corner of Murphy and Twelfth the previous night taking a traffic light out in the process. That meant that the other light on the other corners were out of order as well and so traffic had to be regulated with the assistance of a traffic officer.

The idiocy and stupidity of people always made Tommy wonder if perhaps it wasn't some kind of disease the comes at play, making people act and react the way they do before the inevitable consequences of their actions. He was still pondering that thought when he entered the up market old brownstone apartment building, one of the very few that managed to survive the earthquake.

There was an invitation for Tommy at the front desk in the lobby to go right on up to the penthouse of the building, to the home of William 'Black Heart' Connolly. So he didn't waste time in getting in the elevator and punching the button for the penthouse. The ride up was smooth and slow and fortunately for Tommy there was no elevator music to annoy the crap out of him. It wasn't necessary to knock on a door because the elevator doors opened and Tommy just stepped into the penthouse. The place was huge compared to the small apartment he occupied back in the Cauldron, but Tommy shrugged it all off as he was never one to enjoy opulence. He had hardly taken three steps when William strode toward him, hand extended in greeting.

"Good morning Tommy, it's been some time, hasn't it?"

"Too long Bill, too long," Tommy said. "But you seem to be doing well for yourself."

"Yes, but not so much of late. Anyway come and have some breakfast. I have had all your favorites made and I have some that Middle Eastern coffee we used to have back in the Gulf."

"You're joking! How on earth did you get that particular coffee all the way over here? I recall that plantation was destroyed by fire."

"Yes I thought so too, but apparently the farmer had some of the same coffee bean plants at his home that were only saplings at the time. It took the poor guy some time to recover from the loss but he eventually did and today is the main supplier of coffee beans in the Persian Gulf."

"No shit? Well, then let's go and have us some breakfast, the smell is making my stomach grumble."

Smiling, they moved to the dining area out on the terrace and there they enjoyed the breakfast during which William informed Tommy of the situation that was developing among the syndicates. Tommy ate his fill, which was a substantial amount, then enjoyed that coffee that William had spoken of earlier.

It was almost 10am when they were finally done with breakfast and their coffee as Tommy had a second helping and half of a third and through it all William smiled in wonderment, wondering where all that food went. William got up and had them move over to side of the terrace that over looked the ocean and the morning sunlight, which still glittered off the surface of the water, after pouring each of them a glass of a twenty year old Irish whiskey.

They finished their first drink while going over the details of what it was that William wanted Tommy to do, then sealed the deal with a last drink and when it became time for William to attend to other matters he handed Tommy the bottle with the remaining whiskey and bade him farewell.

**_ϿɃ ϿɃ ϿɃ ϿɃ_** **_  
_**

"Good morning gentleman," Lucius Fox said as all concerning parties for the meeting had seated themselves at the boardroom table at Wayne Enterprises. Lucius bade each of those present to introduce themselves and the body they represent. Bruce Wayne started.

"Bruce Wayne for Wayne Enterprises."

"Richard Grayson for Wayne Enterprises and representing Timothy Drake as well," Dick said.

"Dr. Kitty Faulkner for S.T.A.R. Labs Metropolis."

"Jason Barrett for S.T.A.R. Labs Metropolis and assistant to Dr. Faulkner."

"David McLeod for the WayneTech division of Wayne Enterprises."

"Lucius Fox for Wayne Enterprises."

After all the introductions were made the meeting continued and it went by with Bruce and Dick paying full attention to each and every word and detail of the meeting as soon as Dr. Faulkner mentioned the 'Meteor Project.'

Dr. Kitty Faulkner brought some interesting findings to the meeting and presented visual evidence of their findings as well. It was clear now that when Bruce and Lucius had withdrew funding from the 'Meteor Project' two years ago that Professor Hamilton had secretly withheld the original meteor that was found and which contained the metal now known to as Kryptoniume. The samples that had been withheld had not been exposed to any sunlight and were safely encased in a lead lined box. At the time, and even now, the scientists had not been aware of the effect that sunlight had on the metal. So, and her assistants had been able to melt the metal down and since the professor no longer worked for S.T.A.R. Labs, she had taken over the experiments on the metal using Hamilton's notes.

As the amount of metal that was contained in that specific meteor was not a great deal to begin with they didn't have much to work with and not knowing what to cast the metal as, they merely cast the liquid Kryptoniume in to a metal rod approximately the length of a walking cane. In their impatience to begin their experiments they doused the smoldering rod with water which cooled the rod down sure enough.

When they began their experimenting on the 'Kryptorod' as they dubbed it, they learned that the Kryptoniume had somehow gained invulnerability to heat. The Kryptorod, the learned had also gained the ability to control water and its elemental forms. The funding that S.T.A.R. Labs had kept as reserve had now run out and so Dr. Faulkner, knowing about Wayne Technologies' interest in the retrieval and research of alien technology, had come to Wayne industries to ask for additional funding in exchange for the data of their experiments and research.

Dr. Faulkner was confident that neither Mr. Fox nor Mr. Wayne would pass up on the opportunity to research the amazing metal that had its origin in the now deceased planet of superman himself. She was hoping as part of the deal that she might stay on as head of the project for as long as needed and she was prepared to temporarily move to Gotham for the duration of the project.

Lucius Fox call for a short recess so that he and the other men could deliberate. As soon as the doctor and her assistant were outside of the boardroom he asked, "Right gentleman, I for one think that this is indeed a good opportunity for WayneTech to grab with both hands and to run with. What do you think David?"

"Yes, I agree. It seems that it would be prudent to provide the doctor with funding and our support."

"What about you Dick? What are your thoughts?" Lucius asked.

"Yeah, it would be the sensible thing to do, I say."

"Bruce?" Lucius said making a question of the name as much as speaking to him.

Bruce sat a moment and considered his words then said, "Well, firstly it sees that a debt of gratitude is order for Professor Hamilton for cleverly withholding the original meteor Kryptoniume. Secondly, I think it would be wise to fund the doctor's research but not to give her unlimited funding, merely provide her with funding for as long as she produces results. Clearly there is more to this amazing metal from Superman's former home planet that we could have ever imagined.

"David, I want you to keep a close watch on all her findings and provide Lucius with each and any little detail, however insignificant it might seem. This is obviously a very significant breakthrough indeed and so we must garner all possible information from this project as possible. I want no stone unturned as you personally handle the project specifics and provide Lucius with a biweekly report."

He barely contain his feelings in lieu of this new development as he turned toward Lucius Fox, "Lucius, I trust that you will be on top of this. This is too important an opportunity to pass up and I will not have it fall into the hands of someone like Lex Luthor. I have the utmost confidence that this project will remain uncompromised and secret until such time as all knowledge about Kryptoniume has been unearthed. I need you to please assist David in the initial stages of the planning and specifics after that he will provide you with the reports as I said earlier.

"Gentleman, Dick and I have other matters to attend to and so I leave this matter in your very capable hands." He rose then and continued, "Lucius, I trust that you will inform Dr. Faulkner of our decision?"

"Of course, Bruce," Lucius said and shook Bruce and Dick's hands as the left.

As Bruce and Dick bid their farewells to the doctor and her assistant telling them that Lucius would inform them of the decision, Lucius motioned to them from the boardroom doors.

**_ϿɃ ϿɃ ϿɃ ϿɃ_** **_  
_**

Later, Nightwing made his enthusiasm known howling with excitement as the wind brushed past him while he traveled what he calls 'the rooftop express. Leung's Wu Shu was still four blocks away. While swinging from one building with his jumpline whistling in the wind, he caught movement from the corner of his eye. Thinking that the shadow was his mentor, Nightwing landed on the next rooftop and with the jumpline still in hand he swung out toward the rooftop where he'd seen the shadow. Reaching the rooftop he began searching for the shadow when out of the darkness it attacked.

Nightwing moved almost too late, but managed to dodge the wild punch the shadow threw his way nonetheless. That wild punch threw both of them slightly off balance and Nightwing quickly regained his footing, but a fraction after his attacker and managed to brush aside another punch. Then he was defending for all his worth as the shadow sent a flurry of punches in his direction. Left hooks and right crosses all mixed in with punches he had never seen or encountered before. He had his work cut out for him as he fended off punch after punch of this strange attacker and his fighting style. Back and forth the two men went trading punches but neither landing a single one.

But then, even with his entire repertoire of fighting prowess and years of experience, Nightwing had a rare slip in his normally impeccable defense allowing a punch to connect and it sent to him to the roof on his back where he lay stunned for a moment. That was the moment in which the shadow chose to make a run for it and he did, he ran and dove over the side of the building. Dick recovered from the blow and as he reached the roof edge and peered over, the shadow was gone and out of sight.

"You're late," Batman said as Nightwing settled in beside him minutes later on the rooftop overlooking the parking area behind Leung's Wu Shu.

"Sorry. I had a little run in with a shadow."

"A shadow?" Batman asked.

"Yeah, it was about four blocks back the way I came. He came at me out of the dark, swinging a wild punch. We had a minor scuffle in which I let my defense drop and he hit me with a solid punch. He was over the roof edge and gone by the time I recovered."

"He?" Batman asked smiling, "I was not aware that shadows have genders and what do you mean you let your defense drop? I taught you better than that."

"Oh, very funny, you shouldn't quit your day job. He was wearing some strange outfit that somehow made it seem like the shadows clung to him or something. At first I thought it was you so I went to meet you, but when I got there I was attacked. There was some an insignia on his chest. I haven't seen anything like it before. And for the record he was using some form of martial art that I haven't encountered before either. He was mixing it up too with all different styles like he was making up his moves as he went along."

"Curious…" Batman said, "do you think you can remember his moves?"

"Probably, why?"

"Because I want you to show me when we get back to the cave," Batman said then he removed something from his utility belt that was the size of a playing card and handed it to Nightwing then asked, "Did the insignia look something like this?"

The back of the card was marked with a very stylish, but remarkably distinct and unique gothic style 'V,' the kind that a Goth-music band might use to style their name. The front of the card read, "Vengeance is mine!" Nightwing examined the small card with the insignia, replaying the scene in his mind. After a minute he finally said, "Yeah, this is exactly it. Where did you get this?"

"Gordon gave it to me. This is a copy of the original card found at a homicide scene four nights ago. There is an eyewitness out there somewhere that we need to find and fast. Bullock and Montoya are working on it, but you know how limited their resources are. Take the card and contact Oracle, she has the information on the 911 call. Find the witness and get him to safety. "

"Done and what will you be doing?"

"I will be paying my respects to a former teacher. Master Leung was murdered last night."

**_ϿɃ ϿɃ ϿɃ ϿɃ_** **_  
_**

Moments earlier Vengeance, as the figure referred to himself, was stalking the rooftops waiting for something to happen. Just then, he saw the man swinging by the roof on which he was and he quickly moved into the shadows. _Too late, the man had already seen me_, he thought as the man now landed on a nearby roof and came swinging in his direction.

He watched as the man landed on the roof right after he let go of the rope he was holding onto and do a backward somersault. _So, a skilled acrobat also patrolling the night_, he thought. As the masked man stood searching, Vengeance thought, _I can't be caught_, and so he sprang into action. Bursting from the shadows he threw a wild punch, not bothering to even make contact. His plan was just to distract his opponent.

He saw that his plan was flawed immediately after he instigated it, because his target recovered too quickly for him to really carry his plan completely effectively as he was thrown off balance as well.

He corrected his mistake instantly and proceeded to engage the man in combat. For a few moments that lasted but the span of several heartbeats they traded punches and by sheer luck it seemed to him, he connected with a solid punch sending the man to his back. Then, he ran and dove over the side of the building, deploying a jumpline Vengeance swung away and out of sight all the while thinking, _that was too close for comfort, I need to be more cautious._

**_ϿɃ ϿɃ ϿɃ ϿɃ_** **_  
_**

From an overlooking vantage point of an adjacent building, Catwoman watched the exchange between the two men with interest and as the attacker leapt over the side of the building she resolved to follow this newcomer her domain…


	10. Chapter 10

It was well after midnight when started out following this mysterious newcomer and she found it more of daunting task than she had anticipated. This person was really good at what he or she did, she thought that it could rather be a 'he' than a 'she' as this person's movements were not quite as graceful as say a woman's would be. He was very good she knew as she had seen him do his thing all night long as she followed at a generous distance.

No, in fact, Catwoman felt she was certain that this person was male, because she had encountered a woman once that moved in the same manner but she moved with the grace of a cat and this man just went through the motions. She had a difficult time following him though for just as she thought that he was moving on a clear path he would disappear into the shadows. If she hadn't seen him on the rooftop duking it out with Nightwing she would have thought that it was Batman himself. She followed him even with difficulty she had of losing him every so often, but each time he would disappear into the shadows movement on the edge of her periphery would alert her to his position again.

She followed him for hours until right before dawn when she finally lost sight of him for the last time in Robinson Park. She let him go then not bothering to go after him in the park where Poison Ivy had made her home recently. She had seen enough to know that this man was no threat to her or her domain and besides if he did become a threat she would deal with him swiftly and efficiently and so for now she left him alone until she could learn more about him. Also, the chances were that Nightwing had already told Batman about the newcomer and they would be looking into his background too if anything of that nature existed.

Feeling pretty confident with her assessment, she turned on her heel and left for her home, she was tired form chasing the newcomer all night, but she told herself that it needed to be done. She needed to know what his deal was and so far as she could tell, he was just another guy trying to make a difference in the city and she doubted that his crime fighting career would be a long one while Batman was around and had a say in things. After all Batman considered Gotham City his city and he was adamant on protecting it himself with only a little help from a select few.

**24 December 2001**

It was another clear morning in Gotham City and even though it was still cold many of the city's denizens braved cold to go to their respective jobs, important or menial. Winter was far from over and every one that lived in the city before the 'quake knew that the coldest time of winter was yet to come. The days of fine weather did nothing to alleviate the cold and so the people went about their lives without complaint about the cold or in some cases the lowly existence of the miserable lives.

Wind of the murders had inevitably caught up to the mayor and he had visited the commissioner the previous day telling him that he needed to get this murderer behind bars and fast. It was a royal ass-ripping from the mayor, but the commissioner took it all stoically in stride as he knew that the mayor too was getting his ass handed to him from the upper echelons.

So it was that the day began with a meeting at Gotham Central, which was abuzz with activity early in the morning, that the commissioner had called for. The Mayor was present for short time as he introduced the team of FBI agents that was going to assist in the solving of the apparent serial killer case then he left.

When the mayor departed for City Hall, the men of the G.C.P.D. made their grievances known to the commissioner not even worrying about the FBI agents still in attendance. They felt it was unnecessary for the FBI to assist them on this case, but Gordon assured the men and women that it was ok and that the mayor was merely taking precautionary measures in order to get the case solved as expediently as possible.

Gordon dismissed his team, all except for Bullock and Montoya, whom he introduced individually to the agents as the investigator in charge of the case. Bullock and Montoya in their turn kept their misgivings quiet for the time being and shook the agent's hands as they were introduced.

_**ϿɃϿɃϿɃϿɃ**_

Lau stepped into the terminal at Archie Goodwin International Airport after disembarking the airplane which had just arrived from Metropolis where the Triads' base of operations is located. He went to Metropolis to report that the assassination of Leung was successful and he had been richly rewarded for a job well done.

As he walked he was a little angry with himself and the Triads for this unnecessary detour, his next kill he decided would be confirmed by some other means. He needed to get back on track with his list of twenty one of which fifteen still remained. He was still waiting to retrieve his luggage when he spotted the woman that stood some twenty feet away from him. Somehow she seemed familiar to him, but for some reason he couldn't place her. There was just something about her that bothered him and nagged at the back of his mind. She looked straight at him without any sign of recognition, but he was sure that he knew this woman. He also knew that she wouldn't know who he was because the last time they spoke and saw each other was fifteen years ago, on the day of betrayal, the day his brother Chen died.

She walked right by him after collecting her own luggage and again she looked at him without recognizing him, but he saw her eyes and there he found the one thing that link the knowledge and memory of who she was. _Shiva! _was the exclamation within his mind and it sounded as loud in his mind as a gunshot out in the open. His luggage came by then and it was then that he decided that he was going to follow her. It was fortuitous that she was here in Gotham at this point in time. She was second last on his list of 21 and it was not yet time to deal with her, but he thought it prudent to keep note of her whereabouts as he didn't want to go hunting for her later.

Lau followed her at quite a distance and he knew that he had to be careful not to lose or to be spotted by her, because Shiva's reputation was well documented in the world of contract killing. So he followed her like he would follow a mark and all the while he wondered what his young and former student was up to. It was another reason he was unhappy with the fact that he needed to go to Metropolis.

He was trying to figure out why exactly Shiva was in Gotham at this particular point in time as her presence made little sense to him. Then as he trailed her at his chosen distance he noted that they were now in the Upper West Side, the territory of the Yakuza.

_**ϿɃϿɃϿɃϿɃ**_

Lady Shiva walked the snow lined sidewalk with measured confidence that she would not be recognized by anyone in the city as her disguise was applied to the point of perfection it had even fooled the incompetent security staff at Gotham's Archie Goodwin International Airport. _Although_, she thought, the man at the terminal seemed quite interested her, but she pushed the thought aside as she remembered the disguise she wore. She smiled then, the disguise was quite clever and it enhanced her already exotic Asian features.

She came to Gotham at the behest of the Yakuza who had paid her airfare and arranged a place for to stay in. They had contacted her two days ago and requested that she be in Gotham within a days' time, but she had told them wait that she was on a job and that she would only make it to Gotham after 48 hours. She had to wonder now why they had contacted her; she knew that they surely have their own assassins, so she made a note to ask them precisely that.

But even as she made that mental note she knew that it wouldn't matter anyway if they paid her enough to do the job they expected her to do. It never really mattered to her what the minor details were as long as she got paid and paid very well. And so she continued walking along there in the Upper West Side to the hotel where the Yakuza had arranged a room for her to stay in, while she stayed in Gotham. It was the Upper West Side in which the Yakuza operated from and so the hotel room had come at no cost at all. She decided to go there first and relax after the trip from Hong Kong. _Let them wait_, she thought, _they requested my services not the other way around. _Shiva smiled then and continued on to her hotel.

_**ϿɃϿɃϿɃϿɃ**_

Bruce awoke with a start when Alfred entered his room to bring him the morning newspaper. He sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed and accepted the Gotham Gazette from Alfred.

"There seems to be no news of the Kryptoniume in there whatsoever. It seems that all information concerning the metal is indeed being kept confidential."

"That's good and I would like to try and keep it that way for as long as the project is running. I am meeting with Clark later today. It seems that he has some interesting information concerning the Kryptoniume. We're meeting at his fortress so I will be gone for most of the day I suppose. Make sure the others continue with the investigation."

"Will you then be informing Mr. Kent about the discovery of Dr. Faulkner?"

"Not yet, as we don't know for sure what we are dealing with."

"But surely Mr. Kent has a right to know what you have learned via Dr. Faulkner. He has just as big a stake in this as you, in not more."

"Alfred, I don't want to make any assumptions just yet. I know what the doctor told me and it is fascinating to be sure, but it was probably a fluke, happenstance if you will. I just want to know all there is to know about this metal first. I don't want to jump the gun here."

"Well, as long as you know what you are doing…"

"I do."

"Good. I sincerely hope that you do. When you are done getting ready, breakfast is on the table." Alfred said and left Bruce to get ready for the day.

_**ϿɃϿɃϿɃϿɃ**_

Dick made his way over to the Clock Tower on his motorcycle to where Barbara Gordon lived and where she operated from as Oracle. She provided information to Batman and his allies as well as the Justice League and other known crime fighters.

He was still fuming over the previous night's run-in with this 'Vengeance' character; he could believe that he had let his guard down like that. _It was such a rookie mistake!_ He scolded himself. Then of course there was the whole episode back at the cave when he and Batman went through the fight move by move and after he had performed Vengeance's moves as well as he could remember them, he had endured Batman correcting him on his form every step of the way.

He thought that he had moved away from the criticism and correction and yet there he returned to Gotham only to endure it once again. _Will it ever end? Will I ever move out from under his shadow?_ He asked as he parked his bike in the tower parking area.

He put those thoughts aside as he knew he had to focus on finding out who Vengeance was and why he was in Gotham. He then pushed the buzzer and Barbara's voice called for him to come on up as the elevator doors opened. Dick got in the elevator and in seconds he was at the top of the Clock Tower where Barbara lived. As he stepped out he felt a certain pang as memories came flooding back to him of the times he spent with this remarkable woman.


End file.
